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Stratum and Cost-Benefit Analyses for the Urban Forester
In this age of growing work orders and shrinking operations budgets it may be
beneficial for urban foresters to utilize various models or simulator tools
which help justify and quantify the role shade trees play in mitigating
environmental factors otherwise costly to cities. This data can be reported on
and presented to municipal governments to illustrate the monetary value shade
trees play in moderating temperature, filtering pollutants, and storing carbon.
This document will discuss how managers can, utilize the US Forest Service’s
STRATUM software along with their TreeWorks inventory, to generate cost-benefit
analyses and reports quantifying the value of shade trees in a municipal
setting.
Note: You will need TreeWorks version 9.2.8 or above.
1. First of all users will have to acquire “i-tree” software (a free download
from the USFS.)
http://www.itreetools.org/request_download.shtm
2. Navigate to the configurations icon
 of
your TreeWorks Toolbar.
3. Navigate to the ‘species’ tab of your configurations window. Now, just for
laughs, double click on any species on the list and notice the reference code
field at the bottom. This code is how TreeWorks links our Tree data to STRATUM.
4. Click ok and we’ll return back to the species list. Now, right-click any
species in the window and select ‘load reference codes’. You will then be
prompted to identify the geographic regions you’re in. Then click ok and wait
for this to process.
5. Now, within the same configurations window, select the ‘database’ tab. Within
the database tab choose the ‘run conversion tool’ option.
6. After selecting ‘run conversion tool’ you will be prompted to define the
location of your TreeWorks personal geodatabase so that STRATUM can use your
specific TW data to run the cost-benefit analyses and generate reports. Browse
to the location of your treeworks.mdb (shown in the previous screen) and click
next. - Follow the directions on the subsequent screens and reference the images
below.
7. Now after saving this file to your PC, open STRATUM. Now open a new project
by selecting the icon outlined below.
8. Under the project info tab, browse to the location of the export file we just
saved from TreeWorks. Below, TreeWorks users will choose STRATUM data format
under inventory data type (remember we saved our export in the STRATUM format in
step 6.) Navigate to the ‘Inventory Info’ tab and choose the appropriate
measurement types based on your specific sample protocol.
9. Click finish and you will be directed back to the main STRATUM window. Under
the Reports heading select the ‘Benefit-Cost Analysis’ dropdown > ‘Annual
Benefits’.
10. Now your STRATUM cost-benefit analysis reports are automatically generated.
Select a field from the Benefits dropdown to specify the environmental or
cultural attribute you wish to generate your reports upon. The top fields will
specify the relative value of each tree in terms of the money saved in municipal
costs to the specific attribute. For Example: In this report, every Red Maple in
your inventory saves the city and its residents an average of $2.70 in
electricity costs. Each Red Maple in the Inventory will save the city $13.36 in
their annual stormwater treatment costs.
References:
http://www.itreetools.org/
http://www.itreetools.org/about_itree.shtm
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